Two years ago on this day, March ended with a historic tornado outbreak in the South and Midwest that also spread as far east as the mid-Atlantic on the first day of April.

The outbreak produced 145 tornadoes in more than a dozen states March 31 to April 1, 2023, from Iowa and Illinois southward to Arkansas and Alabama and eastward to Delaware and New Jersey.

Tragically, at total of 26 people lost their lives because of tornadoes in parts of Arkansas, Tennessee, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Delaware.

The strongest tornado caused EF4 damage on March 31 near Keota, Iowa, where a home was swept off its foundation. Another 40+ of the tornadoes had ratings of EF2 or EF3.

Damage from the tornadoes, destructive thunderstorm winds and large hail was estimated to be $5.9 billion, according to NOAA.

Chris Dolce has been a senior digital meteorologist with weather.com for nearly 15 years after beginning his career with The Weather Channel in the early 2000s.